Victory slips away in final two minutes

The Albia Lady Dee varsity basketball team oh so close to winning their second game in a row, trailing by two points with three minutes left in the game to Clarke. But the Indians outscored Albia 11-4 down the stretch to capture a 39-31 win.

The loss drops Albis to 1-4 and gave the Indians their first win of the season.

“We did so many things right in the game,” said Coach Katy Dykes. “The one thing that didn’t happen was to have our shots fall. I can’t even complain about the shots we took. They just didn’t go down.”

Albia shot less than 20 percent for the game, with players who have been shooting the ball well of late. The biggest statistical issue for the team was an enormous disparity in free throws shot. Clarke made 10 of 25 free throws and Albia made one of six.

Clarke opened the game with two baskets by Kiaya Dunbar, Albia missed two free throws, then Halle Hindman broke the ice with a bucket. Sophie Waber scored her first points to cut the Clarke lead to 7-4 and then missed four straight free throws. Ericka Archibald made one of two free throws and the Indians completed the quarter converting on three of four gift shots to lead 9-5 at the break.

Clarke popped out to a 12-9 lead when Tori White hit a three-point shot, but Albia responded with a Waber three-pointer and a shot inside by Lauren Kaldenberg. The Indians’ Kaitlyn Halsband scored the next eight points for Clarke as the quarter ended with Halle Hindman dropping in two baskets to lead the score 20-14 at the half.

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Hailee Fry shook loose for two straight baskets bringing a quick time out by an irate Coach Dykes. The Dees responded to being 10 down with a basket by Waber and then two straight baskets by varsity newcomer Ayana Thomas. Waber missed a pair of free throws, but Archibald scored to cut the score to 26-23 on a steal on a very effective Lady Dee press. Another turnover on the press set up Archibald for a basket that made the score 26-25 at the end of the third quarter.

Had Clarke been able to convert free throws, the game might have gotten out of control, but they missed four straight, then converted two to lead 29-25 with 5:47 left in the game. Hindman nailed a shot to cut the score to 29-27 with 3:11 left.

In the final three minutes, Thomas and Waber were the only two Albia players to score.

Waber led the team in scoring with 10 points. She had seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. Hindman had six points, seven rebounds and two steals. Thomas had six points and seven boards. Archibald had five points, three rebounds and two steals, Kaldenberg had four points, and five rebounds. Danica Workman had four rebounds, four assists and two steals. Abbie Martin had two boards and a blocked shot. Jenny Kelley had three rebounds and Allison Major had two boards. Clarke was led by Halsband with 22 points and Dunbar had nine.